EU summit faces challenges

Thursday, October 20, 2016 | 16:57:18

(VOVworld) – The EU summit is being held on Thursday to Friday in Brussels, Belgium. High on the agenda are immigration, commercial policies, and diplomatic relations with Russia. EU leaders said they will pursue the policies proposed at the unofficial summit in Bratislava on Sunday, including controlling immigration waves outside the borders of EU, fighting terrorism and consolidating the bloc’s economy. Since last September, EU countries have cut down 98% of illegal immigrants through Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus. The EU geared up to help countries accepting returning citizens. For the first six half of this year, the number of illegal immigrants returning home through the European border and guard agency (FRONTEX) has doubled compared to 2015. The EU leaders will also look at how to approve the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada to be signed next Thursday. The approval is in trouble due to objections from the French speaking community in Belgium. However, the EU said they hope to find solutions to pass the deal after 7 years of negotiations.